Manchester United are very likely to take tomorrow night’s Europa League clash against Zorya Luhansk much more seriously than their last match in Europe’s consolation bracket.
Against Feyenoord Rotterdam, Manager Jose Mourinho just wasn’t keyed up, and his team followed suit. The result was embarrassing, and the disinterest carried over from the mid-week defeat to the weekend Premier League fixture. The next result was a total disaster, as United lost to Watford, a side that was only just promoted a couple years ago.
(Related: check out our Man United starting XI prediction for this match)
Mourinho will do his best to make sure complacency doesn’t set in again Thursday night. Let’s take a look at the fitness reports across the internet today.
Luke Shaw is out with a virus. Shaw missed training and Mourinho said he is “ill” with a “temperature, fever and bad throat,” meaning “the doctor sent him home;” according to Mourinho.
Attacker Anthony Martial has recovered from his ankle contusion that he picked up in that Watford catastrophe, he’ll be ready available.
“He’s now recovered from the contusion — not the concussion. He has recovered and he is ready for tomorrow,” said Mourinho.
“No more questions about [Marcus] Rashford? Why Rashford is playing so well? No more questions so now you turn to Martial?”
Mourinho also confirmed that Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who returned to training, would not feature against the Ukrainian side Thursday night.
The Portugese also said striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will start.
Then there’s the much maligned, now we can even call him “embattled” Wayne Rooney.
If Trump does win the election, hopefully he'll be a powerless figurehead, like the Queen in England or Wayne Rooney at Manchester United
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) September 27, 2016
Rooney has had a back problem and Mourinho does not want to play him unless he is fully fit because of the criticism he might receive. You saw last week against Leicester City how much better the team looked with Rooney dropped.
That was a major media talking point all across the world- United became a team with players in more well defined, proper roles sans their team Captain.
I wouldn’t expect him to feature in this one. Here’s a link to much more on the Rooney situation.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.
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